LOS ANGELES (AP) — New witnesses have emerged in the 1981 drowning of actress Natalie Wood, prompting investigators to deem it a "suspicious death" and name her former husband, 87-year-old actor Robert Wagner, a "person of interest," Los Angeles sheriff's officials said Thursday.

For nearly four decades, mystery and speculation have swirled around the death of the actress who was nominated for three Academy Awards and starred in "West Side Story" and "Rebel Without a Cause."

She was on a yacht with Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and the boat captain on Thanksgiving weekend of 1981. After a night of drinking, her body was found floating in the waters off Southern California's Catalina Island. She was 43.

Investigators initially ruled it an accident but reopened the case in 2011 to see whether Wagner or anyone else played a role after the boat's captain said he heard the couple arguing the night of her disappearance. The coroner's office amended Wood's death certificate the next year to include "drowning and other undetermined factors."

Wagner wrote in a 2008 memoir that he and Walken argued that night. He wrote that Walken went to bed and he stayed up for a while, but when he went to bed, he noticed that his wife and a dinghy that had been attached to the yacht were missing.

Why Is Natalie Wood's Mysterious Case Being Reopened? Here Are the Facts

7 hours ago

It's been nearly 37 years since Natalie Wood drowned while boating with her husband, Robert Wagner, on Nov. 29, 1981, and her mysterious death is making headlines once again. After new details emerged during CBS's 48 Hours episode on Saturday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department gave a press conference on Monday to update the public about the case. While the case still remains a "suspicious-circumstances death," Lieutenant John Corina added that more than 100 people have come forward with information since it was reopened in 2011. "We're closer to understanding what happened." As a result of the new witnesses — which include acquaintances of the couple, people staying on Catalina Island, and people near the boat where Natalie drowned — investigators have re-created a timeline of the events leading to her death.

In that timeline, Robert was the last person with Natalie before she died, which Corina added makes him "a person of interest." While the investigators would love to hear Robert's "version of events," as his story has changed over the course of time, it seems unlikely he will talk. Corina said his department has made multiple attempts to reach out to Robert and his lawyer, but he has refused to speak with them. "We can never force him to talk to us," Corina explained. "He has rights, and he can not talk to us if he doesn't want to."